wingsoffirefanonfandomcom-20200229-history
The Midnight Prophecy (Part 2)
The Midnight Prophecy Part 2 By Kittyluvver aka Kitten the RainWing. The events of Part 1 and Part 2 of the Midnight Prophecy story arc occur simultaneously in Pyrrhia. You do not have to read Part 1 in order to start Part 2. Link to the The Midnight Prophecy Main Page Link to Part 1 The story of the Midnight Prophecy continues with the adventures of Faithless, a venom-born SandWing and the fourth dragon of the terrible Midnight Prophecy. Faithless is a young dragon with blood on her scales and shadows on her soul. Trapped in the SkyWing Palace and serving as Queen Ruby's deadly right claw, Faithless dreams of freedom and open sky. But her past is bloody and filled with pain, and nightmares chase her wherever she flees. In order to face the dark reality of the Prophecy, Faithless must first overcome the darkness in her own heart. The Prophecy Midnight falls across these lands From the eastern sea to the western sands There is one who will great power wield As the fate of six others is surely sealed The first is one whose path is dark as night Yet her eyes shine with wisdom’s light Love and kindness vanquish fear In your darkest hour, seek the Seer The second is one who does not doubt' Rage and sorrow she lives without She cannot be touched by flame or fire Blood-Egg born, she will never tire The third one’s scales shine golden-bright As she charges forth to join the fight' She will always see the battle won As only then may her work be done The fourth one hails from the plains of sand Her faithless names feared throughout the land From the life that she once knew, she is torn So seek the one who is venom-born The fifth one, from her past tries to run A fire-born fighter, she rivals the sun But on a long and winding path she will start For behind fiery scales lies the gentlest heart '' ''The sixth is one whom nightmares chase In the world, he has not yet found his place He was born in the ocean’s ebb and flood Go seek the SeaWing of royal blood The destinies of six must be fulfilled And on Jade Mountain their blood be spilled The one who succeeds is with power blest As six more souls seek their final rest Character List Faithless Wildfire Ashen Glaze Glimmer Chapter 1: Promise The roar of the crowd swept over the arena like the rumble of thunder, the harbinger of the fury of a summer storm – ominous dark clouds pregnant with rain, lit from the inside with flashes of lightning. The ground shook, the air was heavy, the very flagstones seemed to vibrate with the mob’s single-minded intent. Countless tiny gemstones, rubies and garnets, fell like a rain of blood upon the ground of the SkyWing arena. Bloody gems, old dried blood in the arena sand, the crowd’s furious lust for blood. Blood. It was everywhere, it was all that mattered in this place of slaughter. Faithless closed her eyes. This was her punishment. For contemplating escape from the Sky Place. For seeks of a life other than that of a prisoner, an executioner. For daring to dream of hope, of freedom, of the touch of misty clouds so high that nothing, not wind, not gravity, not even the sky itself could hold her. The crowd began to stamp upon the stones of the amphitheater seats, striking a rolling, rhythmic thump that throbbed in unison with the endless beating of her aching heart, pumping hot, poisonous blood throughout her body. For Faithless was a venom-born SandWing. Poison flowed in her veins, in her tears, in her mouth, in her tail, poison so strong and so deadly that it could drive Faithless herself to madness. One touch from her venom-coated skin would burn another dragon, a bite would mean paralysis, a sting would bring instant death. Everything about her was made to hurt, to kill, to murder and slaughter. Yes, Faithless was death itself. She glanced down at her wrists and forearms, lined with slashes that slowly wept droplets of thick, venomous blood. Some were very fresh, some were days or weeks old, some were barely more than silvery scars. So many scars, countless to any other dragon, but Faithless knew their number by heart for she had made them herself. One hundred and thirty three scars. One for every dragon she had ever killed. “Welcome, SkyWings!” boomed Vermilion’s voice from the corner of the arena. The crowd renewed its roar at his words, screaming for blood, individual voices mixing and melding to become the baying of a furious beast. Faithless saw the crimson SkyWing standing on his announcer’s mound, arms and wings raised, expertly working the mob into a frenzy. “In this corner,” Vermilion shouted, gesturing towards Faithless, “we have one of the Queen’s own champions! Our very own venom-born SandWing, she deals pain with one claw and death with the other! Dragons and dragonesses, stamp your feet for… Faithless!” The crowd’s howl hummed in her ears like the buzzing of a nest of angered wasps, moving with one mind, speaking with a single roar. “And our challenger today is…” Vermillion unfurled a sheaf of paper in his claw and read, “Willow the SandWing!” A gate on the other side of the arena rolled up, and even over the noise of the crowd Faithless heard the clanking and groan of chains and gears. She kept her eyes fixed on the narrow, dark opening, waiting for the smallest sign of movement. Many emotions churned in her heart, bitter and hot like her own toxic blood. Anger, sorrow, resignation. But not fear. Faithless did not know fear, even while grief and loneliness were like old friends to her. There was not a dragon in the Seven Kingdoms who could even touch her without the threat of horrific acid burns, let alone kill her. So, who would this Willow be? Perhaps a fierce SandWing warrior? Faithless frowned, trying to second-guess the twisted mind of the SkyWing Queen. Yes, Ruby was angry, vindictive, and cruel. She would be eager to hurt Faithless, punish her for her transgression, make her suffer. But how, when no dragon, not even a fellow SandWing, could even raise a claw against her? A flash of movement within the arch of the challenger’s tunnel. Faithless saw it at once, and focused in with the eyes of a predator. Then before all of their eyes, a SandWing dragonet stepped out into the arena. Willow the SandWing was not more than two or three years old. Faithless watched in horror as the tiny dragonet edged slowly into the arena, her body flattened against the ground, her eyes wide with fear. The crowd hushed, and the silence was sharp as a blade. Even a SkyWing arena audience, riled up and thirsty for bloodshed, couldn’t look upon the scene without recognizing, for the briefest of moments, the horror of it all. “Claws up!” Vermilion announced, breaking the tense quiet, shattering the moment. Yet even his voice was subdued. The dragonet looked frantically around the arena, and finally her eyes locked on Faithless. This was no fair fight. This was murder, plain and simple. “Teeth ready!” “Mama!” screamed the dragonet. “Mama, help! Save me!” Out of the corner of her eye, Faithless saw an adult female SandWing, her wings, limbs, and stinging tail wrapped in iron wires, screaming and struggling desperately against the dozen SkyWing guards holding her down, forcing her to watch. “Fight!” The order came almost as a surprise to Faithless. She had been aware of nothing but the rasp of air in her lungs, the steady beating of her worthless, poison-laced heart. She cast her eyes upwards towards the stands, where Queen Ruby sat barely twenty feet away in the first row. “Please don’t make me do this,” she pleaded softly. “Please. Do whatever you want with me, but not this. I won’t kill this dragonet.” “You will fight,” Queen Ruby snarled back, her voice equally quiet but as venomous as the stinger on Faithless’s tail. “You will kill her. Because you have no choice.” Faithless gazed at her queen, the light of desperation shining in eyes suddenly filled with tears. “If you don’t do as I say now,” hissed the queen. “I will make this dragonet suffer. I will hang her from the highest palace turret without food or water. I will skin her alive, and I know how to make a death last for days. I will make her last hours agony.” Horror. Faithless looked at her with horror. “But you, you can give her mercy, Faithless,” Ruby crooned, her voice so soft as to almost be gentle. “Give her freedom. Kill her, and save her.” There was no way out. If Faithless cooperated, the dragonet would die a terrible death. If Faithless resisted, the dragonet would die a far more horrible death at Ruby’s claws. Faithless looked into Ruby’s eyes, and saw the depths of the queen’s depravity. Oh yes, Ruby, in her madness and her cruelty, could not have planned a better punishment for Faithless. There was only one thing she could do. This is mercy, she told herself. This is kindness. Lies. Faithless hated the world, in all its cruelty and sorrow. All its agony and pain, all its blood, all of its hidden darkness in dragons’ souls. She hated Ruby, she hated herself, she hated the world for guiding her paw, forcing her to end an innocent life too soon. Faithless turned, and saw the little dragonet standing cowed in the middle of the arena. She was looking back and forth, terrified by the SkyWing crowd calling for her blood. “Come here, little one,” she said softly, holding out her paws. “Come here. I won’t hurt you. I can help.” She watched as the dragonet turned and and crept closer, mistrust warring with the desire for a kind face in her eyes. “Come here,” she coaxed. “I’m a friend. I’ll help you get out of here. I can set you free." The little SandWing crept closer, and Faithless saw the gratitude in her eyes. Gratitude that she didn’t deserve. “Promise?” the dragonet asked. Faithless hated herself with every fiber of her mind and soul. “I promise,” she whispered. Could she do it? Could she kill this dragonet? Did she have the strength? Could she go on afterwards, or would this break her forever?